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The Defenders Will Complete Iron Fist’s Emotional Journey

Though “The Defenders” has kick-started its hype machine, another big Marvel series will land on Netflix first: “Iron Fist.” Slated to debut in March, “Iron Fist’s” premiere is nestled in between “Luke Cage,” which dropped in September, and “The Defenders,” which will hit screens this summer. As such, Finn Jones — who plays Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist — has a long road ahead of him, and that road leads directly into the big crossover event.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Jones discussed his hero’s journey and revealed that Danny Rand’s story will flow right into “The Defenders.” When “Iron Fist” begins, “[Danny] is a child trapped in a man’s body,” he shared. “He’s an incredibly fierce warrior, but he doesn’t know who he is… ‘Iron Fist’ is like Danny in his adolescence, and ‘The Defenders’ is like Danny taking responsibility and moving forward with his purpose.”

“He’s craving desperately for family, for help, for guidance, for people to learn from, and for a team [in ‘The Defenders’],” he added. “But because of what happens in ‘Iron Fist,’ he’s very untrusting. It’s really his way or no way.”

“I see it as kind of this journey where‘Iron Fist’ and ‘The Defenders’ is like the complete first season of Danny’s journey,” he continued. “It’s really nice to play it back-to-back because Danny does go through this awesome huge arc, so the end of ‘Iron Fist’ is like the halfway point… In ‘The Defenders,’ he’s got a grasp of who he is and he’s trying to do something with it. It’s great to play that consistently over the year and not have that broken up.”

“What we’re seeing [in ‘The Defenders’] is Danny is definitely becoming more at ease, I’d say, and more comfortable with his environment because he has others around him, because he’s not going at it alone anymore. You get to see Danny’s brighter side coming out, and he’s not so tormented by this, but also because he’s found his purpose,” he explained.

“In ‘Iron Fist,’ he’s so unwound, because he doesn’t know who he is, there’s always so much confusion, and he’s always on the brink of a total meltdown, or totally annihilating something, someone, mainly himself. There’s always this high energy frenetic tension, but in ‘Defenders,’ he’s definitely more responsible. He has ground, has drive. I’d say that’s the key word for Danny in ‘The Defenders.’ He drives all of the Defenders to get behind him to solve this… issue,” he concluded.